MorrisF1

Hello, everyone. This is the 18th Undercutters podcast and we’re looking ahead to the Miami Grand Prix. I’m your host, Morris, and you can find me on Blue Sky or Twitter under the name MorrisF1. I’ve got to admit, Miami is one of the circuits I’m least fond of, although I did sleep incredibly well after watching the first race. I don’t think any country should permanently have multiple F1 races given how crammed the calendar is, and the fact the USA has three and one of them (Miami) is not good is not defensible. Anyway, we have a sprint and Grand Prix here, so let’s hope they exceed my expectations. Quick Look at the Miami International Autodrome 00m44s The Miami Grand Prix takes place at the Miami International Autodrome, and made its F1 debut in 2022. The track is 5.4km long, with 57 laps in the race. There are three DRS zones, the first at the end of sector 3 and start of sector 1 on the grid straight, the second on the curve and straight between corners 9 and 11, and then the t...

Hello, everyone. This is the 17th Undercutters podcast, reviewing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and its implications for the title battle. I’m your host, Morris, and you can find me on Twitter and Blue Sky as MorrisF1. And if you like the podcast please remember to leave a positive rating as this helps a lot. But enough call to action nonsense. We have F1 to talk about. Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Qualifying 00m28s While some races have been hit and miss, qualifying has almost always thrown up surprises this year. Saudi Arabia was no exception. The Aston Martin was not looking good, so Stroll being the fastest man eliminated in Q1 is not exactly unexpected. Also eliminated were Doohan, Hulkenberg, Ocon, and Bortoleto. Of those, Ocon was perhaps most surprising, although this circuit does not seem to suit the Haas especially well. This was backed up by Bearman being slowest in Q2. At this stage we also lost Albon, Lawson, Alonso, and Hadjar. Slightly surprised to see Hadjar outqualifi...

While some races have been hit and miss, qualifying has almost always thrown up surprises this year. Saudi Arabia was no exception. The Aston Martin is not looking good, so Stroll being the fastest man eliminated in Q1 is not exactly unexpected. Also eliminated was Doohan, Hulkenberg, Ocon, and Bortoleto. Of those, Ocon is perhaps most surprising, although this circuit does not seem to suit the Haas especially well. This is backed up by Bearman being slowest in Q2. At this stage we also lost Albon, Lawson, Alonso, and Hadjar. Slightly surprised to see Hadjar outqualified by Lawson. Sainz also reached Q3 whereas Albon did not, but this was less unexpected as the Spaniard seemed to finally get on terms with his car last time out and has continued that good form this weekend. Heading into Q3 it was, once more, looking like McLarens to lose. And, once more, they lost it. Not just the front row lockout, but Norris brought out a red flag when he clocked the wall and will start in 10th. Th...

A two stop is likely for this race weekend, due to softer tyres being brought. Hopefully a repeat of Suzuka will not be on the cards. It’s also a low downforce circuit, contrary to many on the calendar (and the antithesis of Monaco). As with Bahrain, the second practice session is the most relevant as it’s on at the same time (evening) as both qualifying and the race. The first practice session had Gasly first, which would be quite the result in qualifying. He was seven-thousandths up on Norris and seven-hundredths ahead of Leclerc. Piastri was close behind, and then came Albon a couple of tenths slower. Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Verstappen and Tsunoda rounded out the top 10. In second practice, which was curtailed due to Tsunoda hitting the wall and bringing out a red flag, Norris was quickest, a tenth and a half up on Piastri. Verstappen was third, a tenth slower. Then it was two-tenths back to Leclerc, and a similar margin from him to Sainz, Tsunoda, and Russell. Gasly, Hulkenber...

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the 16th Undercutters podcast. Today we’re looking back at the Bahrain Grand Prix and ahead to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the final race in this triple header. If you want to get in touch you can leave a comment at morrisf1.blogspot.com, or say hello over on Twitter or Blue Sky, where I’m MorrisF1. Bahrain Grand Prix Qualifying 00m23s For those wondering about updates to the cars, these were mostly minor. The only significant one was a new floor for Ferrari, which appears to have added a little relative pace but not enough to be a game-changer. Also worth noting the track is a bit rough so a two stop was thought to be the order of the day. Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix led to a highly unexpected grid. In Q1 Stroll and Bearman were the slowest of all, with Bortoleto just ahead of them. Not too surprising, as Haas seem to be quite hit and miss. Lawson also went out at this stage but at least seems more in tune with his car now. The main reason f...

Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix led to a highly unexpected grid, only a small part of which was due to a very late lap time deletion. In Q1 Stroll and Bearman were the slowest of all, with Bortoleto just ahead of them. Not too surprising, as Haas seems to be quite hit and miss. Lawson also went out at this stage but at least seems more in tune with his car now. Weirdest of all to go out was the fastest man: Alexander Albon. Except he should have gone through. In Q3, the stewards finally deleted Hulkenberg’s lap, the German having reached Q2, which put him down from 15th to 16th on the grid. Albon got promoted to Q2 but the session has long since ended so he had to make do with 15th and had no chance to improve. Quite the clown show, and really not good enough from the powers that be. Q2 also featured a crash by Ocon and a red flag. He was fine, but this did put him down in 14th, ahead of Albon, just to rub salt in the Thai driver’s wounds. Doohan had a decent lap and was the fa...

From an early morning to a late afternoon start, hence the pre-qualifying ramble being up on the Saturday rather than Sunday. I’ve been mildly off-colour lately but seem to be recovering, so hopefully this won’t interfere with any F1-related stuff. While various teams have brought updates most of these are minor. Ferrari are the only team to bring a major one, with a new floor that seems to be working well. Also worth noting the track is a bit rough so a two stop is thought to be the order of the day. FP1 at Bahrain happens earlier in the day making it much hotter than qualifying or the race, so it’s not exactly representative. This session also had numerous stand-in drivers enjoying a practice session. Anyway, Norris was faster, two-tenths up on Gasly (perhaps reflecting how seriously teams took this practice), with Hamilton three-tenths down the road. Albon was next, then Ocon. Hulkenberg was 6th, a second off the ultimate pace, then came Doohan, Lawson, Tsunoda, and Piastri. The...

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the 15th Undercutters podcast, reviewing the Japanese Grand Prix and looking ahead to the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is held in just a few days’ time. As always, if you want to get in touch I’m MorrisF1 at both Blue Sky and Twitter. The Japanese Grand Prix is a classic track, but would the race this year be fantastic or forgettable? Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying 00m22s Qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix had some quite unexpected results. The two Saubers were out in Q1, Hulkenberg 16th and Bortoleto 17th. That isn’t too surprising, although Ocon leaving was a little more so. Doohan could only manage 19th which, after his big crash in FP2 due to leaving the DRS open into a corner, is making this a less than fantastic weekend for him. And slowest of them all was Stroll, who went on an off-track rally excursion. The first session of qualifying also saw a couple of problems for the rookies. Antonelli was having difficulty getting heat into his tyres, leadi...